...mmm hello!

U M A M I  /  S P I C Y
T A N T A N  R A M E N 

MY TONGUE IS SO BURNT RIGHT NOW!!  I just inhaled my leftovers for lunch & completely said 'fuuuck ittttttt' to blowing/ cooling it down.  I don't even care.  Tootin' my own goddamn horn.  SO GOOD.

UMAMI: The 5th taste..Unable to classify something that is just sweet, salty, sour, or bitter UMAMI is the overall *savory & satisfactory taste* you get from eating something downright delicious.  Scientists found that most foods that were said to be the most UMAMI had higher percentages of glutamate.  Here comes the invention of MSG!  Me being Laotian I grew up eating lots of MSG (in my stir fry, papaya salad, soups).  Flavor is everything!  That's your lesson for the day (;

There's a new ramen house that opened up in Boston this past weekend >> tottoramen.com << Initially, I thought.. *shit, wahhhh I have to have to have to go!*  They have one in New York & HELLO it's R A M E N.  Luckily (for my boyfriend's wallet) I remembered I had bought a pack of fresh ramen noodles at HMart- THUS, why not make us some goddamn homemade ramen!  

After trolling on Pinterest for a few minutes I literally had to kick start my slow thumping, almost dying little heart after seeing this one picture!!  <3 <3

                   

FAAAAAACK..RIGHT????  My tongue instantly swelled up to about 4 times its size as I scrolled through the recipe >> you can arouse yourself here! <<  The whole entire freaking food blog by the way had me dying. *Like, literally..I couldn't even.  All of her photos are so well structured and provocative!!  This..this, is what I want my blog to do to people (:

I used her recipe as a guideline, really (like I do with almost every recipe).  I feel like with cooking there is more than measurements and directions.  Once someone starts to cook more often, like I have, the creativeness and fun really starts to happen!  I trust my tummy instincts and go with the kitchen flow.

So, without further adieu..  here is my little recipe for the UMAMI ramen I've only been gushing about for the past day and a half! 

Ingredients:

For the broth (4 servings)

Sesame oil

2 minced Garlic cloves

2 tbsp Miso paste

Sichuan Chili oil

Water (or stock)

Tan tan seasoning

Soy milk

For the toppings

2 packages fresh ramen noodles

Ground pork

4 Eggs

3 tbsp Soy sauce

2 tbsp Brown sugar

2 Corn cobs

Scallions

Seaweed snacks

Minced Garlic

Sesame oil

Togarashi (Japanese 7 Chili Spices)

Sesame seeds

These are the noodles & seasoning

Get organic..  Your body is a temple!

Try to not eat these all..

Directions:

1. Start by boiling your water.  Once you have a rolling boil place your eggs in & cook for 6 minutes!! This ensures the seductive, soft-boiled joys you see in my bowl.
2. Save 1 cup of hot water  & mix together soy sauce with brown sugar.  Peel & let those eggies submerge & marinate while you continue cooking!  *The longer the better! Overnight will give you an even browner outside.
3. Chop up corn and scallions & set aside.  Mise en place (;
4. Heat another pot with 2 tbsp sesame oil & fry your minced garlic (about 2 tbsp)!  Mmmm..that smells soooo good already, right?? 
5. Add 1 tbsp of togarashi, 2 tbsp chili oil & an extra 1tbsp of sesame seeds.
6. Lastly, add the white ends of the scallions & stir.  Set aside in a small bowl.
7. Heat up a big pot with more sesame oil (the sesame flavor is what we want!)
8. Fry your ground pork with black pepper & a little soy sauce until fully cooked.
9. Strain your pork (you can leave some bits in the pot) and keep covered in a bowl.
10. Add extra garlic into the pot and fry some more!  Love that word..F R Y.
11. Add water, seasoning, miso paste & chili oil and stir until there are no clumps.
    
12. While simmering, taste the broth!  It's okay, you can gyrate a little because all of your first world problems just melted away with that taste..mmm! Add any extra spices, oils or fixings to taste.
13. Just when you think the broth is perfect, add a few splashes of SOY MILK!  YES, SOY MILK!  This really adds that depth to the broth that will sooth your soul like no other soups.
14. Heat up more water in a pot (probably the one you boiled your eggs in) to get the corn & noodles going.
15. Cook the corn for about 2 minutes and strain out, leaving behind water.  Add more if needed!
16. Using a thin mesh strainer cook your noodles for about 2-3 minutes per package.
    
17. Assemble your cooked noodles, corn, ground pork into bowls.
18. Ladle the broth over the bowls (in my case also get a sweet action shot!) and get. freaking. electrified!
    
19. Top with an almost too much amount of scallions, soft-boiled sexy eggs, and a few pieces of seaweed (if there's any left!)
20. OH!!  I almost forgot..remember the chili garlic oil we made?? Spoon that all over the bowl, too!!

Mmmm..I love dimension when taking my food pictures so I always always add a good shake of togarashi & fresh crack of black pepper to everything!   

I still haven't gotten the complete smoooth flow of multi-tasking cooking & taking pictures of everything just yet..again, bear with me! ^_____^

I really hope this inspired a few of you to try making your own ramen at home.  Forget going to New York.  Forget even going to Boston.  Forget spending $15 for a bowl of nirvana.  Forget those long lines.  Forget being ashamed of picking up your bowl, slurping & ass grabbing.  Thanks for reading & please leave me a comment!!  I still haven't gotten one..sad panda. 

<3